I called it the Demi Moore Syndrome, but author Jaye Manus nailed it – The Get A Better Hobby Syndrome.

She’s so right! Note the exclamation point for emphasis. I can think of lots better hobbies than looking in the mirror.

There’s so much pressure on us to remain frozen in time, say… somewhere between 25-35 years old in appearance and party-tude, i.e. party-attitude, not that I go to parties. I am notoriously anti-social. But if we do attend social events we risk catching the Joan Rivers Mask-like Plastic Surgery Syndrome. I recently saw the photo of an author I adore. I shrieked in horror at the sight of her new face. Think Jim Carey in The Mask. Wearing the mask. Sigh. I blame Luis Lumiere for inventing the motion picture. He’s got a great name, don’t you think?

My grandmothers never wrestled with the fact of aging. They had so many other things to do and think about- but then they weren’t constantly bombarded by images of women in their 40′s, 50′s and 60′s – images that have been digitally and surgically manipulated – and told by the popular media that we should look the same which, I’m sorry, isn’t possible. Well, it is possible if we’re willing to… and even then it’s not possible. HD doesn’t do us any favors.

Wow. Seems like all that bra burning and fussing about equal opportunity didn’t even scratch the surface of our insecurities.